Snow Leopards Class Courageous Advocacy

Our courageous advocate is Dr. John Thomas Barnardo, a significant historical figure who dedicated his life to helping vulnerable and disadvantaged children. Guided by his Christian faith, he worked tirelessly to provide shelter, education, and hope to those living in poverty. Through the founding of Dr. Barnardo's Homes, he transformed the lives of thousands of children, ensuring that no child in need was ever turned away.

Having thought carefully about what a ‘Courageous Advocate’ means, we agreed that his commitment to improving the lives of children met the criteria. Snow Leopards discussed how his work reflects our school values of love, hope, and community. We discussed his compassion for helping those who were less fortunate, much like the Bible story of the Good Samaritan. Additionally, we identified similarities in showing love and kindness when others chose to ignore those in need.

Dr Barnardo demonstrated hope by offering homeless children the opportunity to receive an education and build a better life, just as the events of Noah’s Ark symbolised a new beginning and the hope of a better world. Additionally, we reflected on his dedication to strengthening communities by providing children and young people with food, a bed, a sense of belonging, and a place to call home. This reminded us of how Jesus fed the five thousand, caring for those in need and bringing people together as a community.

It was easy for us to link the actions of Dr Thomas Barnardo with God’s Justice. Much like God, Dr Barnardo treated everyone with:

• Fairness and equality to all.
• He respects everyone.
• Gives everyone a chance.
• Showed love to everyone, no matter their background or views.
• Cared for all.
• Did not judge.
• Did not turn anyone away.

As part of our learning journey to develop our understanding of courageous advocacy we have:

• Identified the Rights of the Child through the United Nations Convention
• Discussed the importance of each Article and thought about it’s relevance
• Linked Dr Barnardo’s actions to our English texts to discuss deeper meaning about characters are their hardships

To deepen our understanding we undertook a project to:

• design a new logo badge for ‘Every Child Matters’. We thought carefully about the meaning and used this to help think about the significance of our design
• Created pieces of artwork titled ‘A place for every child’ to remind us about the importance of all children feeing safe and happy to thrive
• Made pocket books to act as a special reminder about the importance of feeling belonging
• Set up and ran a gift and craft stall to raise donations for the Barnardo’s Charity to put into action our learning and strong sense of helping others, just like Barnardo did